Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Skwentna, Alaska 99627
Monday, July 9, 2007 16:10 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The solo commercial certificated pilot was attempting an off-airport landing on rough/uneven terrain under Title 14, CFR Part 91. The pilot reported that he was attempting a toe-in landing to pickup passengers, and about one foot above the ground he heard a loud bang, and the helicopter yawed to the right. The tail rotor separated from the helicopter, and the helicopter descended uncontrolled, impacting the ground, damaging the tail rotor, tail boom, fuselage, and main rotor system. During a postaccident inspection of the site, the pilot reported finding an area of disturbed snow, where the tail rotor struck the glacier. He described the conditions as wind shifts up to 180 degrees, gusting 10-15 knots, density altitude 7,000 feet, and marginal flat light on a snow-covered glacier. A passenger waiting to be picked up reported that it looked like a gust of wind pushed the tail of the helicopter to the right, and the tail rotor struck a snow bank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a glacier, which resulted in a tail rotor strike during landing, and damage to the helicopter during an emergency descent/landing on rough/uneven terrain. Factors contributing to the accident were variable and gusty wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/9/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1610 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Skwentna |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99627 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 615028N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1532832W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22515 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Anchorage, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 9 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Anchorage, FSDO-03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N146ET |
| NTSB Number | ANC07LA062 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hiller |
| Aircraft Model | UH-12E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | HA3046 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5225 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dragonfly Air LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Eagle River |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99577 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Prism Helicopters |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Wasilla |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99687 |
| Operator Code | E00I |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Terra Camp |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Hover - in ground effect |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2007 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |